


Witness Protection

by Magpie_Crow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Familial Logince - Freeform, Familial Moxiety - Freeform, Familial Relationships, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No real Romantic relationships, drug mention, murder mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 22:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18375239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie_Crow/pseuds/Magpie_Crow
Summary: Patton’s new co-worker has a mysterious past, but seems fairly normal for an actor. Soon a new family moves into town and Roman starts acting strange





	Witness Protection

**Author's Note:**

> This story is completely un-beta'd, so any mistakes are my own.

“I’m just saying, you oughtta stay away from that guy.”  
“Nate, kiddo, he’s my co-worker.”  
“Pat. I love you, man, but here on the force, we get told stuff.” Nate Harper paused and stared at something out the window of the small café. “I can’t really say much, but watch out for him.” Patton Heart sighed and gave his cocoa a mutinous look. Nate was probably right, but that didn’t mean that he was going to listen.  
“Breaking News!” Both men turned to the TV in the corner. “Robert Pride, CEO of Pride Industries, has been officially charged with human trafficking, drug possession, money laundering, electoral fraud, and child abuse. His second wife, Amelia Pride nee Greed, has been brought in for questioning on the same charges.” Nate grimaced.  
“Don’t listen to that crap, Patty.” The news blared on.  
“An anonymous witness came forward early last month, and has now been relocated using a witness protection program. The heir to the Pride family, Robert’s oldest son, is assumed dead. His youngest son has been taken in by a longtime friend who has no ties to the Pride syndicate.”  
“I feel sorry for those boys.” Nate sighed. “You’ve gotta big heart, Patty.” Patton gave him a short hug before they parted.

~~

“Friends, Countrymen! I have arrived!” Roman Prince lit up the room with his exuberant personality and wide gestures.  
“Come to bury Caesar, and not praise him?” Patton’s brother Thomas looked up from his literature homework. Roman laughed and ruffled the younger teen’s hair. “Indeed. Where is my squire, fair prince Thomas?” Patton watched as his youngest brother poked his head from behind Thomas. “Heya, Princey.”  
“Why is Thomas a prince while Virgil is only a squire, kiddo?” Patton wasn’t entirely sure why he spoke up from his place behind the counter. Roman shrugged and looked at Virgil.  
“Would you rather be our Dark and Stormy Knight?” The eight-year-old shook his head. “I don’t like the spotlight.”nRoman gave Patton a look that said ‘that’s what he said’, and Patton shook his head.  
“Alas, friends, I must make my way to the back, and begin my work for the day!” Roman swept into the back of the bakery, grabbing a hairnet from the box behind Patton as he went. There was soon a clatter of dishes and the muted notes of a Disney song filtering through the door. 

~~

It was a few weeks later when Remy Dormir blustered through the bakery door, white-knuckling his refillable Starbucks mug.  
“Patton, babe, I’m in love.”  
“Aw, kiddo, that’s great!”  
“He’s a therapist. With a son. And his brother was looking at Nate like I’m about to lose my best friend.” Patton grinned and Roman burst into the lobby from the back of the bakery.  
“I hear someone is dealing with matters of the heart? Do tell, fair friend!” Remy winced at Roman’s proclamation.  
“It’s too early for your volume, girl.” The baker looked affronted, wiping his floury hands on his crown-patterned apron and making offended noises.  
“It’s never too early for projecting if one is an actor, Pumpkin Spice Bore.”  
“Okay, kiddos, let’s be nice. What did you say your new friend’s name was, Rem?” The coffee addict took on a starry-eyed look normally reserved for venti lattes.  
“Emile. Emile Picani.” There was a loud thwack as Roman ran face first into a wall.  
“You O.K., kiddo?”  
“Never better, Padre. I’m practically perfect in every way.”

~~

They came in on Roman’s day off. Two tall, relatively good looking men and a boy, around Virgil’s age. Virgil perked up from his seat in the corner.  
“That’s my friend, Logan,’ he whispered to Patton. ‘He’s new.” Patton ruffled his brother’s hair.  
“Well, go say hi, kiddo!” Virgil shuffled past the counter so he would be visible to the other boy and waved shyly. The boy, who was wearing a necktie of all things, looked up to one of the men for approval before slowly making his way across the store.  
“Salutations, Virgil.”  
“Hi, L.” He glanced back at Patton. “Pat, c’n I get a cookie for Logan?” Patton smiled and fished two cookies from the complementary cookie jar.  
“Here you go, kiddos.” He handed one to his brother and the other to the new boy. “I’m Patton, my dad owns the bakery.”  
“A pleasure to meet you, Mister Patton. Are you Virgil’s brother?”  
“Yup!” The shorter of the two men approached the counter. “Hi! Remy said this was the best bakery in the area. I’m Emile, and this is my brother Dee.” He gestured to the other man, who was looking around and stroking the massive birthmark on his cheek self-consciously. “This is my adopted son, Logan.”  
“It’s nice to meet you all! Thanks for dropping by! I’m Patton, this is my youngest brother Virgil.” Patton shook the proffered hand.  
“This baked good is indistinguishable in taste from those my older sibling has made for me in the past.” Virgil made a sound of distress, and Patton looked over to see tears building in Logan’s eyes.  
“Oh no! Kiddo, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry, is the cookie that bad?” The boy shook his head and crammed the rest of the cookie in his mouth. Emile knelt down next to him.  
“Want to talk about it, Logan?” Logan swallowed the cookie and wiped his face with his polo sleeve.  
“I momentarily found myself noticing Ro’s absence. My apologies for my outburst.”  
“Want another cookie, kiddo?” Logan looked up to Patton.  
“Yes please.”

~~

“I think you used your cookies to bake that boy’s heart, RoRo!” Roman’s laughter from the back was halfhearted.  
“Hey, Pattycake, can we talk about something else?” Patton glanced through the door to see his coworker looking forlorn. “Sure, kiddo. Are you doing ok?”  
“Just bitterly jittery and not very glittery today, Padre. I’ll be fine.”  
“If you’re sure, kiddo.” He was so focused on Roman that he almost didn’t hear the bell chiming. He turned to find Virgil dragging Logan in with a determined look on his face.  
“Stay here, L. I’ll be right back.” Logan looked a bit confused as Virgil dashed behind Patton, grabbed a hairnet, and ran into the back. Patton shook his head fondly.  
“He just went to beg fresh cookies out of Princey, kiddo. How was school today?”  
“Acceptable. Virgil requested assistance with his math homework, bringing me here to work on it. I hope we are not an imposition?”  
“No worries, kiddo. Virgil comes here to do homework all the time.” Patton smiled at Logan. “Our other brother Thomas comes in sometimes as well. He’s in high school.” Logan nodded. “Virgil told me everything he could think to tell me about his family, so I am aware.” He then looked sheepish. “My apologies if that came off as less than polite. I am still unused to interacting with anyone but my brother.”  
“No problem, kiddo! That’s a-ok with me!”  
“Thank you.” Virgil came skipping back out with two warm cookies wrapped carefully in a napkin.  
“Contraband!” He handed one to Logan and stuffed the other in his mouth. “Mf! Ht!” Logan cracked a grin. “Of course it is hot, Virgil.” He took a small bite of his, still smiling at Virgil.  
“So, kiddo,’ Patton began conversationally. ‘What brings you and your dad to our little town?” Logan’s face turned sour. “Emile is not my father. My father murdered my half-brother and was accosted for it. I hate to sound emotional, but I hope they let father rot in prison for his misdeeds.” Virgil started glaring at Patton halfway through Logan’s speech, and tentatively wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulder when he finished.  
“Uh. Wow. Ok, kiddo. Thanks for being willing to share!”

~~

It all went down several days later. Thomas called Patton to pick him up from drama rehearsal, so Patton left Roman and Virgil to watch the bakery. Well, Roman to watch the bakery and Virgil to mope about Logan having to go somewhere after school.  
Patton and Thomas pulled up to the bakery shortly after the Picani’s car rolled up, so they watched in shock as Logan got out of the car, noticed something inside the bakery, dropped his bag and dashed into the bakery. Patton was out the car in a flash, right behind Emile.  
They were greeted with the sight of Roman tightly holding a sobbing Logan to his chest, tears running down his face.  
“Roman?” Patton turned to see Emile and Dee standing in the doorway, looking at Roman like they’d seen a ghost.  
“Hey, Doc. Hi, Jekyll and Lied.” Patton closed the bakery and made hot cocoa.  
“You were the anonymous witness.”  
“Yeah. Had to wait until I turned 18, so that I might be able to take Lo with me. Didn’t work out, obviously.”  
“You didn’t think to call us?”  
“Emmy, you know me. I don’t remember phone numbers.”  
“He has a website.”  
“Get away from me with your facts, Lies and Dolls.” Logan hadn’t let go of his death grip on Roman’s apron, not even for a mug of cocoa. Virgil huddled close to Thomas, worried by the emotions running rampant in the small shop.  
“I think we’re missing information, kiddo. What happened?” Sheepishly, Roman looked at Patton.  
“So, I wasn’t completely honest when I started working here. My name is Roman Pride, heir to Pride Industries. Uh. My father was bad business, so I went to the police and reported him, so they put me in witness protection. Logan is my half-brother.” He paused to look down at Logan, smiling a little at the boy. “I heard from Remy that Emile was in town, but I tried to stay away, so I had no idea that Virgil’s Logan was my little brother. I thought he would just get placed in Foster Care. I was going to look for him in a few months, when the fervor died down.”  
“No wonder Nate said you were suspicious.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all liked that one! It's the first Sanders Sides fic I wrote.  
> Check out my tumblr @we-are-fam-ily
> 
> UPDATE: I fixed a few errors, hopefully the formatting isn't weird anymore?


End file.
